Victim survives two gunshots to the head

Amid the tragedy and loss of life in Wednesday night’s terrorist shooting at the Sarona market in Tel Aviv was one tale of a miracle: one of the wounded victims in the attack, Asaf Bar, narrowly escaped the harrowing experience with his life intact.

Bar and his girlfriend were sitting at the Max Brenner cafe when the terrorists opened fire in their direction.

Bar was shot in the head and wounded, but he miraculously survived and stayed conscious throughout the terrifying attack.

“I feel like [my] boy is here as a gift from God,” Bar’s father, Avner, said, praising the medical staff who treated his son. “He spoke to us just now, he can move all his body parts. One bullet remains in his head and the other was removed.”

Avner said his son had been conscious the whole ride to the hospital, and that his girlfriend had called to notify his family, which then rushed to the hospital from their home in Haifa.

Asaf “saw the two terrorists and they were laughing,” the father said of his son’s account. “In his description, he said they were wearing suits – this was at the table next to them. In photographs [the terrorists] are seen getting up, taking a step, and aiming a gun half-a-meter away from Asaf. It was a miracle that he came out of this,” he said.

“In our reality this can happen, and it is clear that the solution is a diplomatic one, but until a two-state solution happens we need to protect our children,” he added.

The family was already recovering from another tragedy a month earlier, when Asaf’s mother passed away and had just finished sitting the shiva mourning period a few weeks ago.

Asaf “was just starting to live his life again when something like this happened,” said Avner.

Jerusalem Post staff contributed to this report.